Before knowing anything about the writers and directors of Chicken With Plums, a whimsical drama from France, I was sure the filmmakers were probably theatre trained who had been given their big shot at the movies and were determined to include every visual theatrical trick in the book they could think of in order to tell their story.  I was close.

Writer/directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud based the film on their graphic novel of the same name, Poulet aux Prunes, and you can see the artistry from a illustrative background in almost every scene.

The time is 1958 and we’re in Tehran back when the city was allowed to be an open society.  Western influence in arts and culture is everywhere.  The film’s central character, Nasser Ali Khan is one of the world’s most famous violin players of his day.  After his wife smashes his beloved instrument – something we catch in flashback – Nasser attempts to find the perfect replacement, but can’t.  Nothing will ever sound as good to Nasser as his violin, the most important thing in his life.  Having lost interest in everything, Nassar confines himself to bed where he awaits his death.  It’s while lying there, waiting to pass away, he allows his mind to drift over the key moments of his life, including a fanciful meeting with the Angel of Death.

The look of the film is extremely stylized; street scenes look intentionally artificial.  A character’s billowing white veil turns into the drifting smoke of a cigarette; a single snowflake falls from the skies, drifts to the earth and lands on the tongue of a little boy standing with his head held back and his mouth wide open.  There’s an initial feeling of exhilaration to the film’s simulated look that is both creative and exciting to watch, but it begins to wear thin about halfway through when you start to feel you’re watching a bag of tricks rather than a genuinely creative way of telling a story.

The film has a lot of charm and enjoyably sly, politically incorrect humor.  An irritating child who can’t keep still is given a small amount of opium to calm him down.  He enjoys the feeling so much that when he’s dropped off at another babysitter, the first question he innocently asks is “Do you have any opium?”

For a story that is essentially a drama of a drawn-out suicide, Chicken with Plums is told with the playful energy and the quality of a fairy tale.  It’s a strange mix that doesn’t blend as well as I’m sure the filmmakers hoped, but at least it never bores.

As for the odd title; it comes from a passing remark in a voice-over where we learn that the only time Nassar’s wife saw him happy was at mealtimes when eating his favorite dish; chicken with plums.

 MPAA Rating:  PG-13     Length:  90 Minutes     Overall Rating:  7 (out of 10)